1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a female terminal fitting and to a blank for forming a plurality of female terminal fittings.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. H08-306420 and FIG. 5 herein show blanks that are stamped from a metallic plate for forming a female terminal fitting. With reference to FIG. 5, each blank has a bottom plate 1, two side plates 2 and a ceiling plate 3. A coupling 4 extends from the ceiling plate 3 and a contact piece 5 extends from the coupling 4. The blank is bent so that the bottom plate 1, the side plates 2 and the ceiling plate 3 form a rectangular tubular main portion 6. A barrel 7 is formed behind the main portion 6 and is configured to be crimped into connection with a wire. The contact piece 5 is cantilevered obliquely forward in the main portion 6 from a base end that is coupled to an end of the main portion 6 toward the barrel 7. The blanks are arranged side by side and are coupled to a lateral edge of a carrier 9 via a linking section 8 continuous with the rear end of the barrel 7.
The above-described female terminal fitting blank is wide because the coupling 4 and the resilient contact piece 5 are arranged side by side along the width direction at the outside of the lateral edge of the ceiling plate 3. This results in a poor use of the metal.
The resilient contact piece 5 could extend back from the rear end edge of the main portion 6. However, the linking section 8 then would have to be longer to provide a stamping margin between the leading end of the resilient contact piece 5 and the lateral edge of the carrier 9 to avoid interference between the resilient contact piece 5 and the carrier 9. The length of the female terminal fitting blank then increases by the elongation of the linking section 8, and the blank still is large.
The present invention was developed in view of the above problems and an object thereof is to improve blank cutout.